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Monster of the Midway: Bronko Nagurski, the 1943 Chicago Bears, and the Greatest Comeback Ever
Jim Dent's Monster of the Midway is the story of football's fiercest competitor, the legendary Bronko Nagurski. From his discovery in the middle of a Minnesota field to his 1943 comeback season at Wrigley, from the University of Minnesota to the Hall of Fame, Bronko Nagurksi's life is a story of grit, hard work, passion, and, above all, an unstoppable drive to win.
Monster of the Midway recounts Nagurski's unparalleled triumphs during the 1930s and '40s, when the Chicago Bears were the kings of professional football. From 1930, the Bronk's first year, through 1943, his last, the Bears won five NFL titles and played in four other NFL Championship Games. Focusing on Nagurski's 1943 comeback season, and how he miraculously led the Bears to their fourth NFL championship against the backdrop of World War II era Chicago, Jim Dent uncovers the riveting drama of Nagurski's playing days. His efforts were the stuff of legend, and his success in 1943 accomplished in spite of a battered frame, worn-out knees, multiple cracked ribs, and a broken bone in his lower back.
While chronicling the drama of the '43 championship chase, Dent also tells of both the Bears' colorful early years and Bronko's improbable rise to fame from the backwoods of northern Minnesota. Woven into the narrative are the sights and smells and sounds of one of the most romantic, flavorful eras of the twentieth century. And laced through it all are stories of Bronko rubbing shoulders with colorful characters like George Halas, Red Grange, Sid Luckman, and Sammy Baugh; Bronko running into (and breaking) the brick wall at Wrigley Field; Bronko winning All-American spots for two positions; Bronko knocking scores of opponents unconscious; and Bronko reaching the heights of football glory and, with rare grace, turning his back on the game after winning his last championship.
Rich in unforgettable stories and scenes, this is Jim Dent's account of Bronko Nagurski-arguably the greatest football player who ever lived-and his teammates, the roughest, toughest, rowdiest group of players ever to don leather helmets, and the original Monsters of the Midway.
Monster of the Midway recounts Nagurski's unparalleled triumphs during the 1930s and '40s, when the Chicago Bears were the kings of professional football. From 1930, the Bronk's first year, through 1943, his last, the Bears won five NFL titles and played in four other NFL Championship Games. Focusing on Nagurski's 1943 comeback season, and how he miraculously led the Bears to their fourth NFL championship against the backdrop of World War II era Chicago, Jim Dent uncovers the riveting drama of Nagurski's playing days. His efforts were the stuff of legend, and his success in 1943 accomplished in spite of a battered frame, worn-out knees, multiple cracked ribs, and a broken bone in his lower back.
While chronicling the drama of the '43 championship chase, Dent also tells of both the Bears' colorful early years and Bronko's improbable rise to fame from the backwoods of northern Minnesota. Woven into the narrative are the sights and smells and sounds of one of the most romantic, flavorful eras of the twentieth century. And laced through it all are stories of Bronko rubbing shoulders with colorful characters like George Halas, Red Grange, Sid Luckman, and Sammy Baugh; Bronko running into (and breaking) the brick wall at Wrigley Field; Bronko winning All-American spots for two positions; Bronko knocking scores of opponents unconscious; and Bronko reaching the heights of football glory and, with rare grace, turning his back on the game after winning his last championship.
Rich in unforgettable stories and scenes, this is Jim Dent's account of Bronko Nagurski-arguably the greatest football player who ever lived-and his teammates, the roughest, toughest, rowdiest group of players ever to don leather helmets, and the original Monsters of the Midway.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 12, 2016
A very good book by Jim Dent on Bronko Nagurski, one of the first stars of the NFL. This book takes the reader back to the 1930s and early 1940s and describes a game that played tough and often without much passing in it, completely different from the game played today in the NFL. It's a good biography on Nagurski, but don't let the subhead of the book's text fool you. This book talks about the 1943 Bears team, but for only a chapter or two. And although it was a great comeback, come on. Greatest comeback ever? No. A great one yes, but way over the top there. The book does a great job describing the Chicago Bears and Nagurski over the course of about two decades and fans of the early days of the NFL will love this book. It should be a must-read for Chicago Bears fans. However, although I really like the author, Jim Dent, and his book "12 Mighty Orphans" and "Junction Boys", certain things have come to light that the author doesn't always tell the truth in his stories and books and a lot of time he was writing a book to have it get made into a movie and get a bigger payday. He's also been in and out of jail on multiple DUI's and has said that he often writes with a hangover. So...a lot of his stuff now that I read I take with a huge grain of salt. There are some conversations between the players that you have to think, "Well, how the hell did he get that information?" Even if the players were still alive, how would they all remember to that certain exact detail. So, read this book with a grain of a salt.
July 17, 2019
Great look into one of the greatest athletes of all time, the birth of the NFL, the Chicago Bears, and one of its earliest dynasties.
March 26, 2020
Another great book by Jim Dent. This is a must-read for football enthusiasts.
March 18, 2025
The Bro k was one hell of a player and a great Bear. One heck of a wrestling star as well. The greatest Minnesota Golden Gopher ever!
April 4, 2014
There are some books that you read because you pine for the old days. Sports nostalgia books really do that for many people. After all, how many young boys fondly remember their old baseball heroes like Joe DiMaggio or Babe Ruth. It always amazed me how few books have been written about the world of professional football during the era of the 1920s to the 1950s, versus how many have been written about professional baseball. There seems to be so much more longing for the olden days of baseball than football. Perhaps unwittingly, Jim Dent gives us a glimpse about why the "good old days" of the NFL were not as good as the good old days of baseball.
In this book, Dent gives us a good look at "The Bronk", the legendary Chicago Bears linebacker Bronko Nigurski who played professional football for an astounding 20 years from the 1920s to the 1940s. He played for George Halas, the legendary founder of the Chicago Bears and one of the founders of the NFL. But in this book, Dent gives us a shallow portrayal of "The Bronk". In this book, we get the idea that Nagurski was a modern Paul Bunyan, a giant of a man who brought down real pain upon his opponents on the gridiron. But after reading this book, what do we really know about Nagurski? The fact is, what should one really care about him other than his size?
The NFL of Bronko Nagurski was a very different league than the NFL today, and not at all better than its modern descendent. The modern NFL is more like the world of college football in Nagurski's time. In that game, coaches regularly came up with innovative plays, passes were common along with the "flea flicker" and other risky ways to gain yardage. But such was not the NFL. This is why it was common in those days for college football coaches to regularly advise their best players not to become professional football players when they graduated from college ball. The NFL was what professional wrestling is today. It was a forum where men would pack the stands to see large men pound each other into the turf for every yard. Passes were rare and plays consisted mostly of the largest player barrelling down the field into a sea of defenders, so that the fans could wonder who would be left standing when the yard or two of gain was acknowledged. This is how the NFL was, because this is what the fans wanted. It would be this way from the founding of the league in 1920 all the way until the 1960s, when the league finally changed to draw in fans who had less of a stomach for the pounding torture of every play.
The title of this story, which implies that the book is about the 1943 NFL championship that the Bears won against all odds, is really only a small part of the book. This book is really about Bronko Nagurski, a mountain of a man who lived his last days in constant pain because of the years of torture that he put his body through. It's not an uplifting story, but it's a fitting story about the way that the NFL really was in those days. This is a great book for hard core football fans, but others really will get nothing out of it.
In this book, Dent gives us a good look at "The Bronk", the legendary Chicago Bears linebacker Bronko Nigurski who played professional football for an astounding 20 years from the 1920s to the 1940s. He played for George Halas, the legendary founder of the Chicago Bears and one of the founders of the NFL. But in this book, Dent gives us a shallow portrayal of "The Bronk". In this book, we get the idea that Nagurski was a modern Paul Bunyan, a giant of a man who brought down real pain upon his opponents on the gridiron. But after reading this book, what do we really know about Nagurski? The fact is, what should one really care about him other than his size?
The NFL of Bronko Nagurski was a very different league than the NFL today, and not at all better than its modern descendent. The modern NFL is more like the world of college football in Nagurski's time. In that game, coaches regularly came up with innovative plays, passes were common along with the "flea flicker" and other risky ways to gain yardage. But such was not the NFL. This is why it was common in those days for college football coaches to regularly advise their best players not to become professional football players when they graduated from college ball. The NFL was what professional wrestling is today. It was a forum where men would pack the stands to see large men pound each other into the turf for every yard. Passes were rare and plays consisted mostly of the largest player barrelling down the field into a sea of defenders, so that the fans could wonder who would be left standing when the yard or two of gain was acknowledged. This is how the NFL was, because this is what the fans wanted. It would be this way from the founding of the league in 1920 all the way until the 1960s, when the league finally changed to draw in fans who had less of a stomach for the pounding torture of every play.
The title of this story, which implies that the book is about the 1943 NFL championship that the Bears won against all odds, is really only a small part of the book. This book is really about Bronko Nagurski, a mountain of a man who lived his last days in constant pain because of the years of torture that he put his body through. It's not an uplifting story, but it's a fitting story about the way that the NFL really was in those days. This is a great book for hard core football fans, but others really will get nothing out of it.
July 22, 2015
Bronko Nagurski -one of the greatest football players to have ever played the game, especially considering he played in the days were it was still optional to wear a helmet. Jim Dent is an engaging writer and I enjoyed the book overall.
I did find my eyes glazing over at the details he provided for some, well all, of the game stats. But that is more about me, than the actual book.
I loved the history of the Bears and how he showed what a cheap curmudgeon George Halas was. However, he also showed the flair Halas had as well as his coaching genius.
Bears fans will enjoy the story in general - and love the stories about the Bears/Packers rivalry. Outside of Nagurski's story, those were the best anecdotes. Twice it was mentioned after a Bears/Packers game (when the Bears won), Curly Lambeau would be sitting on the sidelines with his head in his hands, crying.
Football history just doesn't get any better than that.
I did find my eyes glazing over at the details he provided for some, well all, of the game stats. But that is more about me, than the actual book.
I loved the history of the Bears and how he showed what a cheap curmudgeon George Halas was. However, he also showed the flair Halas had as well as his coaching genius.
Bears fans will enjoy the story in general - and love the stories about the Bears/Packers rivalry. Outside of Nagurski's story, those were the best anecdotes. Twice it was mentioned after a Bears/Packers game (when the Bears won), Curly Lambeau would be sitting on the sidelines with his head in his hands, crying.
Football history just doesn't get any better than that.
November 1, 2013
Wasn't that amazing, a bit short and too many side tracks. It was as if he didn't want to fill the book with unconfirmed information, which is good, but he didn't seem to have enough material for an entire book so he was forced to fill it out with random anecdotes.
May 28, 2013
Captures the spirit of da Bears. Must read if you are a Bears fan.
October 19, 2014
I enjoyed the book with many great stories and much interesting football history. Nagurski is quite the legend. However, the salty language throughout made the book less palatable to me.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews